Naomi Nakane
Naomi is the novel’s narrator and protagonist. She is a quiet, polite Japanese Canadian woman who believes that personal troubles should be kept personal and the past should be kept in the past. This mindset…
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Obasan (Ayako Nakane)
Obasan is Naomi’s aunt and Uncle’s wife. Obasan teaches Naomi to prioritize others before herself, and Obasan herself embodies that value in her quiet dedication to helping those around her, which includes internalizing…
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Aunt Emily Kato
Emily is Mother’s younger sister, Naomi’s aunt, and a passionate activist against racism. She consistently asserts that she is a Canadian, and she does not believe that her Japanese identity negates that in…
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Uncle (Isamu “Sam” Nakane)
Uncle is Naomi’s paternal uncle, the husband of Obasan, and the half-brother of Father. His death is the catalyst for the novel’s driving action, as Naomi’s grief prompts her to reflect on…
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Stephen Nakane
Stephen is Naomi’s older brother. Since he is three years older than Naomi, he experiences more direct racism at school before the war begins, which leads him to resent his own Japanese heritage. This…
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Father (Tadashi/Mark Nakane)
Naomi’s father is an intelligent, artistic musician. When the government begins imprisoning Japanese Canadians, Father has to put aside his creative endeavors and focus on preserving his family. His ability to look after his…
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Mother
Mother is Naomi’s mother, who disappears on a trip to Japan when Naomi is a child. Throughout her life, Naomi yearns for her mother and wishes to know what became of her, until Grandma…
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Grandma Kato
Grandma Kato is Naomi’s maternal grandmother, the mother of Aunt Emily and Mother. She brings Mother to Japan with her before the war, leaving behind her other daughter and her husband Grandpa Kato…
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Nakayama-sensei
Nakayama-sensei is an Anglican minister who presides over the Nakanes’ congregation in Vancouver and continues serving as a community leader when he moves to Slocan. He tries to foster a sense of togetherness and support…
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Grandpa Nakane
Grandpa Nakane is Father’s father and Grandma Nakane’s second husband. He is an expert boatbuilder and sailor, but his boats are confiscated when he and Grandma Nakane are imprisoned at the Pool in…
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Penny Barker
Penny Barker is the daughter of Mr. Barker, who owns the beet farm where the Nakanes work and live. She generally pays little attention to the Nakanes, despite attending school with Naomi and Stephen…
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Rough Lock Bill
Rough Lock Bill is a First Nations man who lives a reclusive life by a lake in the woods of Slocan. Though he is irritable and unfriendly, he tells Naomi and her friends stories about…
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Minor Characters
Nomura-obasan
Nomura-obasan is an elderly woman who lives with the Nakanes in Slocan for some time while she is ill. Obasan and Naomi help care for Nomura-obasan, but Stephen refuses to engage with her.
Old Man Gower
Old Man Gower is the Nakanes’ neighbor in Vancouver who sexually abuses Naomi when she is a child. Naomi feels unable to tell anyone about this abuse, which distances her from Mother and foreshadows the role that silenced trauma will play in the story.
Grandma Nakane
Grandma Nakane is the mother of Father and Uncle. She and Grandpa Nakane are imprisoned at the Pool in Vancouver at the beginning of World War II, and Grandma Nakane sinks into a deep depression after being separated from her husband and forced to live in squalor.
Grandpa Kato
Grandpa Kato is the father of Mother and Aunt Emily. He stays in Canada with Emily when Grandma Kato takes Mother to Japan. Grandpa Kato is a doctor and tends to the sick in internment camps until his health fails.
Mr. Barker
Mr. Barker is a white Canadian who employs and houses the Nakanes on his beet farm. He visits the family after Uncle’s death, and his repeated racial microaggressions against Obasan highlight that well-intentioned racism is still racism.
Vivian Barker
Vivian Barker is the second wife of Mr. Barker, who visits the Nakanes with him after Uncle’s death. She is uncomfortable in the Nakanes’ home and avoids speaking directly to Obasan.
Kenji
Kenji is Naomi’s classmate and friend in Slocan. He is outgoing and adventurous, but when Naomi is drowning in a lake, he flees rather than try to help her.
Setsuko
Setsuko is Mother’s cousin, whom Mother and Grandma Kato visit in Nagasaki. Setsuko is brutally disfigured by the bombing of Nagasaki and quickly succumbs to her injuries.
Tomio
Tomio is Setsuko’s son. He survives the bombing of Nagasaki, but he disappears shortly afterwards and is never found.
Chieko
Chieko is Setsuko’s infant daughter. She survives the bombing of Nagasaki, but the radiation affects her health and she develops leukemia at a young age.
Uncle Dan
Uncle Dan is a close friend of Father’s who works for the Canadian government. Despite being falsely accused of espionage during World War II, Uncle Dan remains passionately loyal to Canada.
